Mall made for walking

Before florescent lights flicker on inside stores and escalators start their continuous rotation, doors at Westfield Eastridge mall open to a fitness-minded bunch.

Most don’t know each other’s names. They don’t compete for distance or speed.

They lace up their sneakers and walk the mall corridors to keep in shape.

Martha Parks moved to Gastonia more than 60 years ago. And when the spry 90-year-old woman saw construction along New Hope Road nearly 40 years ago, Parks found a new daily activity.

Parks started walking around the outside of the mall back in the late 1970s. She liked the exercise and the closeness to her home.

Safety eventually became a concern, and Parks took her activity inside the mall. She’s been strolling the halls since.

Parks slips on her shoes at least six days a week and heads to the mall by 8 a.m., when doors open.

The mall security guard unlocks entrances, and as each door opens walkers flow into the hall – often dropping their jackets off in the food court.

Parks does four laps upstairs and one on the first floor. That equals a mile, she said. In previous years markers told people how far they’d walked.

The markers are long gone, but Parks remembers the route.

Parks waves as friends pass. She knows details and stories about most of them. But their friendships aren’t complex.

“I don’t even know their names. We just wave,” she laughs.

Parks recently met some new people at the mall, a team from Gaston Memorial Hospital.

The hospital’s cardiac department started a program, Walk with a Doc.

A doctor and program volunteers come to the mall food court at 9 a.m. on the third Saturday of each month. The team spends an hour conducting blood pressure checks, talking about heart health and ending with refreshments.

Parks said she had some heart issues a couple of years ago, and she’s thrilled that the hospital is reaching out.

Getting medical advice is always helpful, said Parks, but a lot of the walkers don’t need to be told to exercise.

Many of the women boast hoofing through the halls for 20 years.

Ann Glover and Jan Higby often walk together.

Higby arrives with a stroller and her grandson, Landon.

Glover shows up with her husband, Bobby. But Bobby soon loses his companion when a stroller comes around the corner.

Ann Glover and Higby have been friends for years, and they’ve been taking laps through the mall for more than 15. Their pace may have slowed, but they say they’re not quitting.

“We used to go 12 laps, but we’re cutting down,” Higby said.

Max and Virginia Pendleton from Mount Holly also join in the early walking bunch.

There’s a benefit to mall walking before stores open, Max Pendleton said. His wife won’t be tempted to shop.

Higby said climate control and convenience attract her to early mornings at the mall.

“It’s warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and there are bathrooms nearby,” she said.

Walkers trickle in throughout the morning. Parks is strict about her 8 a.m. arrival. She’s gone before stores open at 10 a.m. Her timing isn’t coincidental.

“That’s when the big crowd comes in, and we’re usually at home by then,” Parks said.

You can reach reporter Diane Turbyfill at 704-869-1817 and twitter.com/GazetteDiane.